The acclaimed Scottish author and stand-up comedian, A L Kennedy, is to be patron of the 2008 Christian Aid Edinburgh Book Sale, writes Claire Shelley.
A L Kennedy: the latest high-profile patron for our Edinburgh sale. Photo: Kevin Low.
Kennedy, whose fifth novel Day won the 2007 Costa Book of the Year award, is the latest high-profile patron to support the event.
She will spend a quiet afternoon in early May sorting thousands of books with some of the many supporters who make the sale happen each year.
Organisers hope to add significantly to the £1.4 million raised for Christian Aid through the event since its inception in 1974.
Mary Davidson, convenor of the sale, is delighted by Kennedy’s support and by her willingness to meet the volunteers who make it happen. ‘It’s important to recognise all the many hours of work that these volunteers put in each year,’ she says.
The annual sale has become an institution in Edinburgh, bringing together supporters from other churches, libraries and printers. It’s even mentioned in Churches to Visit in Scotland, which refers to the event in its description of St Andrew and St George’s Parish Church, the ‘architectural gem of the New Town’ where the sale takes place.
Memories
The church has hosted the sale ever since one of its first female elders, Nancy Brackett, put 200 books on a table outside the church and offered them for sale for Christian Aid.
The books had previously belonged to Brackett’s cousin, Sir John Mackay Thomson, former head of the Scottish education department. There was a moving moment during the sorting of books for the 2007 sale when someone found a formal studio photograph of Sir John.
‘Those with long memories knew that had it not been for this man, there would have been nothing of any of this,’ says Mary Davidson.
Five hundred years of Scottish printing
The long history of Scottish printing will be noted during the 2008 sale, for it coincides with the 500th anniversary of the first book appearing from a Scottish printing press.
The sale will take place from Saturday 10 to Friday 16 May, after sorting of donated books and other items between 28 April and 9 May. For more information contact our Edinburgh office.